


Prized Firefighter

by Akira_of_the_Twilight



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fireman Bucky, Fluff, M/M, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-20 01:16:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7385164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akira_of_the_Twilight/pseuds/Akira_of_the_Twilight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <sub> Prompt: Bucky is a firefighter along with Steve and they are participating in a firefighters charity auction. Tony and Pepper both attend since they are friends of steve and Tony can't help but bid a ridiculous a,Ound of money for Bucky.</sub>
</p>
<p>Steve left the stage, winking at Tony and Pepper as he left.</p>
<p>Tony sighed and slumped in his chair. “Guess we can go home now, if we want. We have Steve’s contact information after all, and we can just wire the money over.”</p>
<p>Pepper grinned wickedly. “Oh, I don’t think we want to leave just yet.”</p>
<p>“Ms. Potts, are you—”</p>
<p>“—Bucky Barnes!” Sam introduced.</p>
<p>Tony’s brain went careening into his skull as the name of Steve’s fellow firefighter and friend resounded in Tony’s head. Bucky Barnes—the sweet talkin’, lovable asshole who Tony had been crushing on for months—was being auctioned off for a date!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prized Firefighter

Tony and Pepper jumped and cheered for Steve as he waltzed on stage wearing his firefighter helmet and jacket. Steve smiled roguishly, but the pink tinge to his cheeks betrayed his embarrassment. Pepper and Tony had spent the last two weeks listening to Steve waffle about whether or not he would participate in the Fireman Auction. He hated the idea of being sold off like a piece of meat, but it was for a charity, and Steve could never ignore people in need.

Pepper and Tony had encouraged him, and promised that they would bid on him so he would only have to go on a date with his friends.

“Steve here likes to dance,” Sam, the official announcer for the evening, read off his cue cards. He snickered. “Yeah, he likes to dance, but he’s terrible at it.” Sam threw the cue card at Steve. “What the hell is this? Don’t false advertise.”

Steve chuckled and some of the pink faded from his cheeks. “It’s not a false advertisement. I can dance. Just not anything fancy.”

“Yeah, yeah. The old man shuffle doesn’t count.” Sam rolled his eyes and spoke into the mic. “Listen, ladies, gents, and others: He’s as stubborn as a mule, is idealistic as hell, and is basically just a giant puppy that doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Don’t believe me? The date he is offering up is a picnic at the lake and an evening watching the stars.”

Pepper hummed in thought and smiled at Tony. “An evening under the stars. Don’t you like stargazing?”

Tony smiled back at her. “And I believe you like picnics.”

“This is going to turn into a bidding war,” Pepper stated.

Tony thrust up his paddle. “A thousand dollars!”

Pepper threw up her paddle. “Two thousand!”

Sam whistled in appreciation and eyed Steve. “And he hasn’t even shown off the eight pack yet.”

Steve bit the inside of his cheek to stifle his laughter.

The bidding lasted a few minutes, with Tony relinquishing his bid on Steve. He loved Steve, and a night of stargazing would be fun, but he also loved Pepper and he’d liked seeing her happy when she won.

Steve left the stage, winking at Tony and Pepper as he left.

Tony sighed and slumped in his chair. “Guess we can go home now, if we want. We have Steve’s contact information after all, and we can just wire the money over.”

Pepper grinned wickedly. “Oh, I don’t think we want to leave just yet.”

“Ms. Potts, are you—”

“—Bucky Barnes!” Sam introduced.

Tony’s brain went careening into his skull as the name of Steve’s fellow firefighter and friend resounded in Tony’s head. Bucky Barnes—the sweet talkin’, lovable asshole who Tony had been crushing on for months—was being auctioned off for a date!

Catcalls broke Tony out of his mental musings.

Bucky strutted onto the stage in full fireman regalia, except he was missing one very key component: his shirt.

It was a good thing Tony was surrounded by firemen, because he was pretty sure his heart stopped for five seconds there, and he might have needed medical attention.

He’d known Bucky was ripped, but he hadn’t known how much. Bucky must do a thousand sit-ups a day to have the number of defined abs he was toting.

Bucky sashayed his hips as he took center stage. Somehow he managed to drop the shoulder off his jacket to reveal more neck and collarbone in a movement that came off as effortless and not one bit staged. He smirked as the crowd whooped in approval. His stormy blue eyes scanned the room and landed on Tony.

Bucky winked, and Tony’s mouth went dry.

Tony didn’t listen as Sam listed off Bucky’s personal qualities and the date Bucky promised to take the winner on. He ogled and gaped at Bucky, and maybe he was imagining it, but he could have sworn that Bucky was looking at him.

“We’ll start the bidding at—”

“Ten thousand dollars!” Tony jumped out of his seat.

Immediately there were murmurs about the bid being too high to start with and a lot of dirty looks sent Tony’s way.

“Twelve thousand,” Pepper shouted.

Betrayal stabbed Tony in the heart.

Pepper winked at Tony. “It’s for a good cause.”

No, Pepper was just a sadistic and cruel friend that knew Tony was so desperate for a date with Bucky, he’d give up three months pay (and probably more if Tony were honest) just to have one date with him.

“Fifteen thousand,” Tony countered.

“Twenty,” Pepper stated.

Sam wrinkled his nose at Bucky. “He’s not all that.”

Bucky turned his salacious grin on Sam. “I’m worth a lot more, trust me.”

“Twenty-five,” Tony said.

Pepper hummed in thought. “Twenty-five would mean the fire department reaches its goal, but I also know that you can afford more.”

“Pepper,” Tony pleaded. He bent down and whispered to her. “I can donate whatever amount you want later. So please, stop showing off how desperate I am for Bucky. I might have to stop bidding just so I don’t look like a complete loser.”

“Promise to pay at least four times your bid?” Pepper asked.

Tony nodded. Of course, he’d already planned on it—just to do it anonymously.

Pepper smiled and shoved her paddle off to the side.

Tony sucked in a sharp breath as he waited to see if anyone else would try to beat his bid.

Sam began the count down for final bids.

Tony’s heart raced.

“Sold!” Sam exclaimed. “But seriously, this guy is only worth ten dollars max.”

Bucky huffed. “Shut up, Sam.”  

Bucky winked at Tony as he headed backstage. “See you later.”

Tony nodded his head and collapsed into his chair. He couldn’t believe it. He had a date with a Bucky.

A date he had paid for.

Tony’s brows knitted together.

_Shit_. Going on a date with Bucky would be amazing, but had he just messed up his chances with Bucky romantically? He’d _bought_ a date. What if when Tony finally found the courage to ask Bucky out on a real date, Bucky felt obligated because Tony had spent so much on him today? Tony had only paid for one date, and Bucky wasn’t beholden to give Tony anymore, but what if—

Pepper flicked Tony on the forehead. “Stop it. I can sense what you’re thinking. You haven’t screwed up anything with Bucky.”

“You can’t be sure,” Tony protested.

“How about you wait until the auction is over when you two will be given a chance to talk before you start freaking out? You might get a nice surprise.”

Tony wasn’t too sure about that—his luck in romance was terrible—but he was willing to wait.

The remainder of the auction felt like it went on for an eternity. By the end of it, Tony was on edge and couldn’t stop fiddling with whatever he could get his hands on. He’d folded twenty paper cranes out of napkins and would have folded more if he hadn’t run out of napkins.

Pepper linked her arm though Tony’s at the end of the show and led him backstage.

Steve was waiting right there for them. He hugged them both and talked excitedly about how well the event went while he also scheduled his official date with Pepper.

Tony looked around backstage but didn’t see Bucky anywhere.

Tony frowned, not sure what to think. Bucky needed to schedule their date with him, so he shouldn’t have left yet.

Someone tapped Tony on shoulder and Tony turned.

Bucky held a bouquet of gerbera daisies, yellow lilies, roses, cushion poms, button poms, and carnations. The bouquet was huge and colorful, and Tony’s eyes couldn’t stop roving from flower to flower to take in each shape and shade. He was so transfixed by the sight, that he was completely startled when Bucky gently relinquished the bouquet over to him.

Tony startled even more when Bucky leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “I knew it would be you.”

An indignant noise escaped Tony. “Excuse you?”

Bucky’s mischievous grin was going full force and he pecked Tony on the cheek again. “Let’s just say I’ve been wanting ask you out for a while, but I wanted to make it special, so when I heard about the auction—”

Tony squawked. “You knew I had feelings for you, and you made me buy a date from you? Do you know how manipulative that sounds?”

Bucky winced. “Okay, that actually sounds pretty bad when you put it like that. Makes it sound like I was toying with your feelings, or like I’m some charitable gold digger.” Bucky huffed and ran his hand through his hair. “This was so much more romantic in my head. I’d thought it would be a great story to tell when people ask how we got together.”

The corner of Tony’s mouth quirked up. He maneuvered the bouquet into the crook of one arm and took Bucky’s hand in his. “Oh no, it is a great story. I love it. The story of how Bucky tried to be a romantic and ended up being a jerk instead.”

“’Jerk’ is a little harsh.” Bucky frowned, his bottom lip jutting out just a tad.

Tony chuckled and leaned into Bucky. He kissed the corner of Bucky’s mouth. “You’re right. ‘Lovesick idiot’ is better.”

“Now, that,” Bucky cupped Tony face,” is something I can agree with.” Bucky closed the space between them.

Tony let out a happy sound as their lips finally touched. The kiss was chaste and sweet, and absolutely perfect.

“Get a room you two.” Sam shoved Bucky’s shoulder as he walked past, causing Bucky to ram his mouth against Tony’s.

“Ow!” Tony jerked back after the collision of lips and teeth.

Bucky scowled at Sam. “Watch it, Wilson.”

Sam smirked over his shoulder. “Still only worth ten dollars.”  


End file.
